Llangwm’s literary festival will host the lady of Downton Abbey when it returns for a fourth year this August.

Llangwm LitFest returns to the village between Friday, August 9 and Sunday, August 11 and will play host to Lady Carnarvon, whose home Highclere Castle is the film set for Downton Abbey.

When Lady Carnarvon is not busy with her family and hosting the cast of Downton Abbey at Highclere Castle, she is able to concentrate on her career as a novelist.

Her latest book invites readers to five weekends at Highclere from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day: Disraeli’s reform cabinet in 1866, a literary weekend with Henry James in 1886, a visit from the Prince of Wales in 1895, a musical Easter with Malcolm Sargent in 1935, and the weekend at Highclere today.

‘At Home at Highclere: Entertaining at The Real Downton Abbey’ has also proven an inspiration for Matthew Evans, landlord of Llangwm’s Cottage Inn.

Matthew is teaming up with catering guru Jackie Palit to replace pub grub with a banquet fit for a countess: watercress soup, mouth-watering terrines, roast loin of pork, syllabubs and pavlovas will be the order of the day on Saturday, August 10.

The festival will also be repeating the children’s soap box after its popularity last year, where the budding writers can read from their novel or poem, or sing a song.

Haverfordwest’s Victoria Bookshop has donated book vouchers for each participant.

Leif Bersweden, ‘The Orchid Hunter’ will also be joining the festival to talk about his ultimate gap year.

Leif travelled around Britain in a clapped-out Renault 5 to photograph every species of British native orchid.

Rian Evans, author of the book about Kyffin Williams ‘The Light and The Dark’ will talk about how Kyffin overcame polio and epilepsy to become one of Wales’ best loved painters.

St Twynell’s resident Ferdinand Mount will be examining the remarkable lives of Jesus Christ, Pericles, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Jefferson and Mary Wollstonecraft in his book Prime Movers.

Isambard Wilkinson, former Telegraph correspondent in Pakistan will bring tales of warlords in the tribal areas of Pakistan from his acclaimed book Travels in a Dervish Cloak.

For the first time, Llangwm storyteller, Owain the Yarn will be entertaining children with spooky tales including Baba Yaga.

For more information on the festival (tickets, attendance, participation and sponsorship opportunities), contact llangwmlitfest@gmail.com, or call 07970 812050, or visit the website: llangwmlitfest.co.uk